Magazine

A wooden baby play gym set up on an organic cotton blanket in a sunny room

Why I Tossed My Plastic Toys For A Wooden Spielbogen Baby Gym

It was 2:00 PM on a Tuesday, and I was sitting on my living room rug nursing a lukewarm coffee while a giant plastic jungle gym flashed neon green lights directly into my six-week-old's eyeballs. The thing was blaring some...

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Tired dad sitting on floor holding a flashing plastic toy and a simple wooden ring

Surviving the great baby toy invasion without losing your mind

My mother-in-law arrived on a Tuesday afternoon with a battery-operated plastic farmyard that screamed distorted animal noises at 120 decibels, proudly declaring it highly educational for the twins. The very next day, my heavily bearded friend who lives in Hackney...

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A wooden push toy on a nursery rug next to some soft building blocks.

Why that classic seated baby walker is actually a terrible idea

Last Diwali, my mother-in-law cornered me near the samosas with a brightly colored plastic catalog she had acquired from god knows where. She flipped to a dog-eared page and pointed to a massive plastic saucer surrounded by wheels and covered...

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A tired mom holding a cup of coffee while looking at baby clothes

The Only Things You Actually Need For A New Baby (And What To Skip)

"You absolutely need the wipe warmer," my sister-in-law hissed across the table, leaning in like she was giving me state secrets. "If a cold wipe touches that baby's bottom, you'll never sleep again." "Don't buy anything," my hippie neighbor countered...

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Toddler chewing on a solid beech wood grasping ring on a playmat

Toxic glue and the truth about aesthetic baby holzspielzeug

I'm standing at the stove at two in the morning, watching a forty-dollar organic maple rattle slowly disintegrate in a pot of boiling water. The water is turning a suspicious murky brown. A smell like burning nail polish remover is...

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A minimalist wooden baby play gym set up on a soft living room rug.

Why I Finally Ditched the Neon Plastic Baby Play Gym

It was a Tuesday, roughly 2:15 PM in late October 2017. Maya was exactly fourteen weeks old, and I was wearing a pair of dark grey maternity leggings that I had absolutely no intention of retiring anytime soon. They had...

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Baby chewing on a wooden rattle while lying on a playmat

Finding the right Rassel fΓΌr Babys without losing your mind

When Maya was about twelve weeks old, my mother-in-law marched into my kitchen and handed me a literal sterling silver rattle that weighed as much as a kettlebell. "It's an heirloom," she whispered reverently, tracing the engraved initials of some...

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A wooden rattle toy sitting on a playmat next to a baby's hand

Why a Basic Rassel Toy Beat My High-Tech Baby Parenting Theories

I'm sitting on the living room rug surrounded by three different glowing screens, a Wi-Fi enabled bassinet that tracks micro-movements, and a massive spreadsheet charting exactly how many ounces of milk my son has consumed since Tuesday. On the main...

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A wooden indoor jungle gym for toddlers set up on a vegan leather play mat in a Portland house.

Ranking the best indoor jungle gym for toddlers as a new dad

My 11-month-old’s left big toe was wedged firmly into the cooling vent of my PlayStation 5 while his right hand maintained a white-knuckle death grip on the edge of the media console. He was attempting to scale the living room...

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